Photo of naked Seaside students focus of police investigation

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SEASIDE, Ore. - A photograph showing several high-school football players showering after a game is now the focus of a police investigation.

The photo, taken last week, apparently was passed around Seaside High School, and the mother of one of the players wants her son's teammate prosecuted. She looks at it as child pornography.

The principal of Seaside High, Sheila Roley, said it will be up to law enforcement and prosecutors to weigh in on the criminal aspect. But at the school it could be considered cyber-bullying or sexual harassment, and the student could be expelled.

"It's impossible to know if it was sent to three kids or 300 kids," said Roley of the picture of several naked Seaside junior varsity football players.

She said a staff member overheard two students talking about the photo, leading the school to launch an investigation, which included talking to the football team and later contacting police and parents.

"Our understanding of the description of the photograph is that there's no identifiable student faces, Roley said.

"I talked to my son. He knew who was in the photo. The kids knew who was in the photo. They were identifiable," said Sara Lee who reported the photo to police.

Lee said her son, a freshman, is one of the players captured on camera. She said it doesn’t matter whether the picture was meant as a prank, there’s no justification for it.

"When you send it out to multiple, numerous kids in the school, that's more malicious – that's not funny ha-ha," Lee said.

She said her son has handled the situation well but she wants his teammate to face more than mere expulsion. She wants criminal prosecution.

"If this was an adult, the guy would automatically be prosecuted for taking pictures of kids in a shower and sent to jail," she said. "So I don't think a kid should be let off that easy. He has to learn from his mistakes."

KATU News tried to reach the detective assigned to this case Tuesday but did not get a call back. The school is keeping one student out of school as the investigation continues.